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Hinden
Hinden is a sovereign state occupying the south and east of the Dumerian Peninsula in Western Toran. The kingdom includes the coastal land in the East bordering the Doradic Ocean, the islands of the Seaview Channel, and the plains, hills, and riverlands of former Dumer. The kingdom shares a border with Nash to the west and Icehomme to the north, but otherwise is surrounded by Seaview Channel and the Doradic Ocean. Its capital and chief area of residence is Seaview, but Dumerdain and Waterdown are accorded almost equal status, with Waterdown functioning as an administrative capital, and Dumerdain a military one. Today, Seaview is the largest metropolitan area on the Dumerian Peninsula. Hinden's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern Hinden. However, there are uplands in the north (for example, the mountainous Dumerdain and plateaued Hereford). History For the history of humanity before their spread to Hinden, see Dumer. The beginnings of the unifications and political struggles that unified Hinden began in the 5th century, as the free Dumerian kings occupying the area fought for land and power. At the end of the 5th century, the most powerful ruler in Western Toran was Dorim the Strong (Dorim Hind), whose lands extended from Helfim south to the Doradic Ocean In the early years of the 6th century, Dumer and Tailk were the leading Toranic kingdoms. After the death of Dorim in 528, his cousin and ally William Hind became the most powerful leader north of the Dumerian. The Cain Dynasty Following his cousin’s death, William maintained the unification of the Dumerian tribes, at one point quelling an attack on the Montags at the Battle of the River Stour. Upon the death of William, a southern king called Cain, wilder and more agressive than the Hinds, was able to pursue a grand plan to expand Dumerian power. The growing strength of the self-proclaimed Cain of Dumer forced the Tailkan rebels under Icil Detsomme, originally formed to resist Dumerian expansion northward, into an alliance with the Western King Cadwallon, Cain’s only rival. Together they invaded Cain’s lands in 607 and defeated and killed him at the Battle of the Dumerian River. Their success was short-lived, as Aeth (one of Cain’s sons) defeated and killed Cadwallon at Heathfield near Helfim, ending the conflict. But in less than a decade Detsomme again waged war against Dumer, Aeth having taken over and continuing his father’s rule. These battles were called the War for Dumer. Aeth was killed in battle in the fall of 612, temporarily ending the Cain dynasty, and sending Dumer into a state of anarchy. Aeth’s brother Alrum was chased to the northern extremes of his kingdom. However, he and his son Cain II killed Detsomme in 620, and spent the rest of their lives warring against the expanding kingdoms of Tailk to maintain the old Dumerian homelands. Cain II died of sickness in 650, and Alrum was assassinated in the same year. At that time, the armies of Tailk left Dumer to fight the Azarcs in the North. This allowed Alrum's son Bain to seize power. For the next century-and-a-half, descendants of Cain I ruled. Yet each king held less and less power, and by the 760s, Bain II held only the northeastern coast under his imperium. The ascendency of the Cain dynasty came to an end in 800, when they were soundly beaten under Hindwulf, a descendant of William Hind, at the Battle of Helfim. Hindwulf's Successors On Hindwulf's death in 853, his young son Edward of Wulf succeeded him. From 855–880, the southern half of Dumer was ruled by King Emain Wulf III, who was succeeded by Emain IV, while Edward ruled the North. In 887 Emain IV’s daughter Helthain married Edward’s son Edward II. When Emain IV died in 899, his widow Fraya administered the Dumerian province with the title "Lady of the Dumerians". As commander of the Dumerian army she worked with her ally, the now venerable Edward of Wulf, to win back the Dumerian lands that were under the control of Bern V. Edward and his successors made mounted charges a key element of their strategy, enabling them to go on the offensive more often than not. Edward III recaptured the Dumerian cultural capital, Dumerdain, in 912. In 914, Edward III's son, Malcolm of Dumerdain, annexed the rest of Dumer and forced the independent kings to submit; Malcolm become King of all Dumer, ruling with the consent of the elderly Lady Fraya. Malcolm immediately set about a plan of action to minimize further conflict. As Dumer was clearly too large to maintain single rulership, he decreed that the north-land, called Hind-Dumer (or Hinden), was to be ruled by the Hinds and their descendants, while the south, Old Dumer, would be an autonomous but allied nation headed by Fraya’s son, Gamun. The Rise and Fall of Belfaim the Unready Two years after his coronation at Dumerdain, Malcolm I died while still only in his early thirties. He left two surviving sons, Malcolm II (the eldest) and his half-brother Belfaim. Malcolm II was crowned king, but three years later was assassinated by one of his half- brother's retainers, with the assistance of Belfaim’s stepmother. Hence Belfaim was crowned in 919, and although he reigned for fifty-eight years, one of the longest reigns in Hind history, he earned the name "Belfaim the Unready", as he proved to be one of Hinden's most disastrous kings, politically unskilled, economically inexperienced, and socially inept. William of Whitesbury, writing in his "Chronicle Of The Kings of Dumer" about one hundred years later, was scathing in his criticism of Belfaim, saying that he “''occupied the kingdom, rather than governed it."'' In the summer of 977, Sven Whitesword, King of Unified Tailk, brought the Bernian armies to Helfim in an attempt to intimidate Belfaim into stepping down. From there he went north to Dumerdain, where the locals immediately agreed to support him. He then struck south in a nonviolent blitzkrieg, encouraging the people to express their unhappiness with their king, forcing Belfaim into exile in Moricci by the end of summer. However, on February 7th of 978, Sven died suddenly, after taking on the role of acting king while he looked for a suitable Hind replacement. Capitalizing on his death, Belfaim returned to Hinden with an army of mercenaries and old sympathizers, and drove Sven's son and successor, Thaim, back to Tailk, forcing him to abandon his allies in the process. In 979, Thaim launched a new campaign against Belfaim. Quickly Prince William fell out with his father, Belfaim, and struck out on his own. Many local Hind leaders decided to support Thaim, so Belfaim ultimately retreated to Dumerdain. Before engagement with Thaim’s army, Belfaim died of sickness and was replaced by William, who had Thaim’s blessing. In winter 1029 , William II died in mysterious circumstances, likely murdered by an old friend of Belfaim, and his brother Edmund took the throne. In the summer of 1031, Edmund sent for William II’s widow, Emma, with the intention of marrying her. It seems that Emma agreed to marry the king on condition that he would limit the Hinden succession to the children born of their union. One result of Edmund’s marriage to Emma was to precipitate a succession crisis after his death in 1098, as the throne was disputed between Edmund’s son, Harald, and Edmund's younger brother, Belfaim II. Belfaim II quickly made an unsuccessful raid on Dumerdain with an army of friends, and he was soon killed when he attempted to escape to the south. Emma moved to the coast when Harald became king of Dumer. On December 16th, 1119, Harald fell ill. He took to his bed and fell into a coma; at one point he woke and turned to his friend Henry Godwinson and asked him to protect Hinden and all its people. On January 1st, Harald died, and the publicly admired Henry was declared king. The following day, Edward was buried and Harold crowned. Although Henry Godwinson had taken the crown of Dumer, there were others who laid claim, primarily Stephen of Waterdown, who was cousin to Henry through his aunt, Emma. It is believed that Harald had promised the crown to Stephen before he chose Henry. Henry Godwinson had agreed to support Stephen's claim after hearing of his friend’s earlier promise. Henry had then demanded an unobstructed path to the throne for Stephen. During his travel under Henry's protection, from Waterdown to Dumerdain, it is claimed by the Hinds, that Stephen swore a solemn oath of loyalty to Henry, even as he planned on taking the throne. When he arrived at Dumerdain, Henry Godwinson personally surrendered the kingdom to him, and he was crowned in the winter of 1121. It took Stephen a further ten years to consolidate his kingdom, during which any opposition was suppressed ruthlessly; in a particularly brutal incident known as the “Poisoning of the North” in 1125. Stephen issued orders to lay waste to the rebellious north, to burn all the cattle, crops and farming equipment and to poison the earth. The Succession Crisis of 1168 When King Stephen died of sickness at the beginning of 1168, the lack of a clear heir led to a disputed succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of Hinden. Stephen's immediate successor was his still-living predecessor, Henry Godwinson. Henry was re-crowned a week after Stephen’s death. He was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. Harath of Dumer claimed that he had been promised the throne by King Stephen and that Henry had sworn agreement to this; King Daim III of Tailk, commonly known as Daim Swordson, also contested the succession. His claim to the throne was based on an agreement between his predecessor Daim II and the earlier king, Harald, whereby if either died without heir, the other would inherit both Hinden and Tailk. Harath and Daim at once set about assembling troops to invade Dumerdain. Daim invaded northern Hinden in early September. Henry defeated and killed Daim and the majority of his men at the Battle of the White Bridge. Harath marched on Dumerdain in October with an army of symapthizers and mercenaries. Henry went west to meet him, and Harath was defeated and killed at Dumer Dam. The Reign of Alfrid Godwinson Henry's only legitimate son, Baim, died aboard the White Ship in the naval Disaster of 1190, sparking a fresh succession crisis. Henry named his daughter Alfrid as his heir, but upon his death in 1191, her cousin Richard of Seaview had proclaimed himself king. Alfrid, who had been traveling in the east, returned to Hinden to challenge Richard and was declared "Lady of the Hinds," which resulted in the six-month Hinden Civil War. Richard was defeated and captured at the Battle of Dumerdain and Alfrid was the effective ruler. On the day of Alfrid's coronation, July 7th, 1191, there was a mass slaughter of those with Bernian heritage, a genocidal attack by agents of Tancred I, despot king of a city-state in Nash. Quickly putting the affairs of the empire in order, she departed on crusade in August. In Nocking, she came into conflict with Tancred I’s armies, led by the king himself. Alfrid captured the city of Nocking on October 10th, 1191, and used it to force Tancred into submission. He and his advisers were executed. Alfrid was captured by Tancred’s son Rupert of Nocking on her return journey in January, 1192. The people were resistant to the cost in men and money required to support a war to restore Alfrid’s holdings on the continent. Alfrid was forced to agree to the Provisons of New Hinden, drafted by Rupert and his brother, Tancred II. Alfrid was released, but was also forced to release much of western Hinden to Nocking and give up massive amounts of gold. The Provisions also held that "islands (if any) which the king of Dumer should hold", Rupert would retain "as better of Dumer". From the beginning of her reign (post-war), Alfrid sought to organize her inherited territories. Hinden consisted of a number of cultural regions, often in conflict with each other. Her initiatives were comprised of military assaults, diplomatic meetings, and political maneuvers that functionally eliminated the institution of tribal statehood. In her unification effort, she re-dedicated the lands of Hind-Dumer as “Hinden” in 1194, after the great line of Hinds who advanced the country. This ended the use of the term “Hind-Dumer.” Despite failing health, Alfrid went north to pursue another campaign, fighting off Arroks that had settled near the White Mountain, but she died en route of sickness, in 1200. She had requested that her bones should be carried on campaigns and that her heart be buried in Dumerdain, but the rest of her was buried at her castle in Dumerdain in a plain black marble tomb, that in later years was painted with the words “Warrior-Queen” and “Honor the vow”. The Rebellion of John Gaunt She was succeeded by her son, Edward. Edward’s coronation oath on his succession in 1200 was the first to reflect responsibility to enforce the laws the people wanted. But the poor state of the economy caused significant civil unrest, as his government levied a number of harsh taxes to finance military campaigns against the holdings of Rupert of Nocking. The tax of ten copper pieces a month upon everyone over the age of 4 proved particularly unpopular. This, combined with enforcement of the Statute of Guildship, which gave Edward’s wealthy guildmaster friends unchecked regulatory power, triggered an uprising, sparked by a refusal to pay the tax, in early 1206. Rebels led by John Gaunt, a popular veteran and lieutenant of Queen Alfrid who claimed Hind heritage, marched on Dumerdain. Initially, there were only attacks on certain government properties. Soon the rebels were met by the young king himself; they presented him with a series of demands, including the dismissal of some of his ministers and the abolition of the war taxes. Upon his refusal, rebels stormed the Fort at Dumerdain and executed those hiding there. Further negotiations were arranged, but Edward behaved belligerently, feeling negotiating to be pointless, and in the ensuing disputes his minister Damis Montag killed him. John Gaunt seized the initiative and had his soldiers storm the fort they were in. Upon establishing control of Dumerdain he pursued, captured and jailed the previous dynasty’s leaders. He replaced the title of King with Warden, as he believed lineages and royalty were the reason Hinden had been plagued with crises. He also instituted a system of voting that was to be protected by a strong police force. Soon Gaunt intensified the war against Rupert of Nocking, a war which still rages in the islands of the Doradic Ocean. Now John Gaunt, called Hindson, is ruling, Warden of Hinden, and the current year is 1240. Geography Hinden has a diverse geography, from the mountains in the north to the heavily wooded farmland in the east, through to the upland plains of Heathfield. Despite this varied landscape, Hinden broadly forms two zones, roughly divided by the Dumerian River: Southern Hinden has lighter, richer soils, able to support both arable and pastoral agriculture, while the poorer soils and colder climate of the north and west produce a predominantly pastoral economy. Of the hundreds of miles of roads that were built by the early Dumerians, many remain in use and two are of particular strategic importance—the Black Path and the Coast-road. The road system is adequate, although it is significantly cheaper to transport goods by water, through the Seaview Channel or along the coast of the Doradic Ocean. Ships are commonplace in the East and the cost of small shipments to travel throughout Hinden is almost negligible for many merchants. Even at the start of the 3rd century, when the Dumerian tribes began their mass farming, the Hinden landscape was already being shaped by human occupation. Many forests are products of the last few centuries, the result of fields being reclaimed by brush after the collapse of this or that smalll Dumerian settlement. The South is mostly farmland, massive pastures and cropfields, while in some parts of the country, such as the north-east, wetlands remain testament to earlier over-farming during the food-starved times of the Dumerian Civil War, as well as remaining fallout from the Poisoning of the North. Climate For much of its history, Hinden's climate was far different from that of the 13th century. Between the 2nd and 5th centuries Hinden went through the White Age, a prolonged period of cooler temperatures; in the early 5th century, for example, summers were around 20 degrees colder than today and the climate was slightly wetter. Economy and Technology The Hinden economy is fundamentally agricultural, depending on growing crops such as wheat, barley and oats on an open field system, and husbanding sheep, cattle and pigs. In the late 600s, many peasants moved away from living in isolated hamlets and instead came together to form larger villages engaged in arable cultivation. Agricultural land has become typically organized around military forts and castles, and is divided between large fields that the local sheriff manages directly with a team of hired workers, called country-land, and many smaller fields, cultivated by local commoners. These farmers pay rent to the landowner either through agricultural labour on the country-fields or through rent in the form of gold and produce. However, the farmers who work the land generate massive profits in harvest season, when they sell most of their product. By the 10th century, a market economy was flourishing across much of Hinden, while the eastern and southern towns were heavily involved in international trade. Around 1050, watermills were built in the South to grind flour, freeing up labour for other more productive agricultural tasks. However, economic growth began to falter at the end of the 11th century, owing to a combination of overpopulation, land shortages and depleted soils, mostly in the outskirts of major cities and population areas. The Hinden cloth and leather industries grew considerably at the start of the 12th century, and a new class of larger, more internationally-minded Hinden merchants emerged, typically based in Seaview or the south-east, prospering at the expense of the older, shrinking economies of the northern towns; the north was quickly devolving into a poorer, more militarized zone. These new trading systems brought about the rise of the chartered company. Fishing in the Doradic Ocean expanded into deeper waters, backed by commercial investment from major merchants. By the end of the 12th century considerable improvements were being made in metalworking and shipbuilding that would shape the modern Hind economy. Technology and Science Technology and science in Hinden advanced considerably during the 11th and 12th centuries especially, driven in part by the Marren and Dorvimian thinking that reached Hinden from the 9th century onwards. Many advances were made in scientific ideas, including the introduction of the more precise Dorvimian numerals and a sequence of improvements in the units used for measuring time. Clocks were first built in Hinden in the late 12th century; these early mechanical clocks were being installed in castles and in wealthy manors by the rich by 1200. The 9th century produced many influential Hinden scholars. Geoffrey Exan, a philosopher and monk, produced works on natural philosophy, astronomy and alchemy; his work set out the theoretical basis for future experimentation in the natural sciences. Despite the limitations of the time's science, in the 7th century Dumerdain native William Orward published the Compendium Medicinae, one of the longest medical works ever written. Prominent historical and scientific texts began to be translated into Common for the first time in the second half of the 8th century, and the prominent schools of modern Seaview were established in the 11th century. By the 12th century, intenser study of Elves and their cultures had been adopted by the universities of Seaview. Technological advances proceeded in a range of areas. Glazed pottery became widespread in the 5th and 6th centuries, with stoneware pots largely replacing wooden plates and bowls by the 700s. Watermills to grind grain had existed during most of the 11th century, using horizontal mill designs; from the 12th century on many more were built, eliminating the use of hand mills, with the older horizontal mills gradually supplanted by a new vertical mill design. The introduction of hopped beer transformed the brewing industry in the 10th century, and new techniques were invented to better preserve fish. William of Heathfield and Jonathan Hind began using the printing press during the late 11th century. Transport links were also improved; many road bridges were either erected or rebuilt in stone under the rule of Alfrid Godwinson. Hinden's maritime trade benefited from the introduction of cog ships, and many docks were improved and fitted with cranes for the first time in the 1000s. Warfare Warfare was endemic in early Dumer, and major conflicts still occurred approximately every hundred years from the 500s on. Groups of well-armed kings and their households formed the heart of these armies, supported by larger numbers of temporary troops levied from across their kingdoms. By the 6th century, armies of around 10,000 men could be called up for campaigns, with armies close to that size available to guard urban defenses. The most common weapon was the sword, with massive greatswords used by wealthier nobles; cavalry was uncommon, but some early Dumerians did fight from horseback, especially among the southern tribes. The civil war (Succession Crisis) beginning in 1168 led to developments in tactics, including the use of shield walls in battle, and Alfrid Godwinson's seizure of power in the 12th century introduced housemen, a form of elite household soldier who protected the king. Armies Hinden warfare is characterised by attritional military campaigns, in which commanders make strategic attacks on enemy lands and seize castles in order to allow them to take control of their adversaries' territory, ultimately winning slow but strategic victories. Pitched battles are occasionally fought between armies but these are considered risky engagements and usually avoided by prudent commanders. Hinden armies are comprised of bodies of lightly armored infantry supported by groups of armored horsemen. Crossbowmen become more numerous in the 10th century, alongside the traditional shortbow archers. There are also ordained knights and local sheriffs leading groups of soldiers. Before the time of Edward III, armies were larger in size, but the troops were typically worse equipped and uniformed. Edward III's smaller but better-trained and better-equipped army changed the way warfare functioned in Hinden. His fighting force was capable of taking on groups twice its size, as their training and gear far surpassed their enemies'. Navies The first Hinden navy was operational in 612, when Cain Hind's newly built ships defeated a raiding fleet from Nocking. These early fleets were small, but grew in size in the 8th century, allowing the power of the Dumerians to be projected across Seaview Channel. Bain II's fleet had as many as 500 vessels, while his successor Hindwulf could muster 800. Some ships were manned by paid civilian sailors drawn from the coastal towns, while other vessels were mobilized as part of a national levy and manned by full-time military crews. Naval forces continue to play an important role, enabling the transportation of troops and supplies, raids into hostile territory and attacks on enemy fleets. Hinden fleets in the 12th and 13th centuries have been typically comprised of specialist vessels, such as galleys, large transport ships, and merchant vessels conscripted into action. Fortifications Many of the fortifications built by the early Dumerians survived into the modern day, especially the walls surrounding their military forts and cities. These defenses were often reused during the unstable period after the rule of Dorim Hind. The Dumerian kings undertook significant planned urban expansion in the 4th and 5th centuries, creating fort-towns, often protected with earth and wood ramparts. Although a small number of castles had been built in Hinden during the 300s, it was after that century that many kings began to build timber motte-and-bailey and ringwork castles in large numbers, to better control their territories. During the 7th century Cain II began to build more castles in stone, with characteristic square keeps that supported both military and political functions. Massive forts were used to control key towns and forests, whilst large castles were used by government leaders to control their widespread estates. Castles continued to grow in military sophistication during the 9th century, and in the 11th century new defensive town walls were constructed across Hinden under the orders of Harald Wulf. By the 10th century, castles were combining defenses with luxurious, sophisticated living arrangements and landscaped gardens. The economics of maintaining the smaller castles meant that some, especially in the north, were left to decline or abandoned, and smaller, more defensible structures of wood and iron emerged in the Hinden to replace the aging castles. By the time of the rule of Alfrid Godwinson, town architecture was increasingly less military in character and more often an expression of civic pride or part of urban governance: many grand gatehouses were built in the 11th and 12th centuries for both utility and beauty. Art Hinden has produced art in the form of paintings, carvings, books, fabrics and many functional but beautiful objects. A wide range of materials are used, including gold, stone and wood, the art usually drawing overt attention to the materials utilised in the designs. Hinden artists are known for carved wooden sculpture, pioneering manuscripts, embroidered cloths, ornate iron decoration, and stonework. The political involvement of Sven Whitesword introduced northern Tailkan artistic styles, particularly fond of stone and iron, and increased the demand for carvings. In other artistic areas, especially embroidery, the traditional Hinden influence remained evident, and the famous Black Tapestry, woven in 1187, is an example of an older Dumerian style being reemployed in the modern day. Drama, Literature, and Music The Hindens produced extensive poetry in Dumerian, some of which was written down as early as the 3rd century, although most surviving poems were compiled in the 7th and early 8th century. Poetry and fantastical stories were popular after the death of Alfrid Godwinson, inspired by her mythical life. Stories based on traditional oral storytelling have been put to paper in recent years by trained scribes, and mass-produced texts have started to permeate the South especially. Music and singing are important in Hinden, being used in royal ceremonies, and to accompany theatrical works. A certain singing technique called "Dain" was introduced to Hinden in the 7th century, by a group of tribesmen from the Seaview Islands; it became extremely popular and was noted as a national art form by Cain II. Ballads have been popular from the late 12th century onwards, including the Song of Alfrid Godwinson and many describing the history of the Hind bloodline. Architecture In the century after the Succession Crisis, very few substantial buildings were constructed and many villages and towns were abandoned. New larger, longer houses designed to house many families were constructed in the northwest, while in others timber buildings were built imitating the older Dumerian styles. The palaces constructed for the nobility over time have centred on great timber halls, while manor houses began to appear in rural areas. Domestic architecture has continually developed; the early kings of Hinden, occupying ancient Dumerian dwellings, rapidly began to build larger buildings in stone and timber. The elite preferred houses with large, ground-floor halls. Wealthier men in the north built homes of stone, and incorporated business and domestic arrangements into a single functional design. By the 12th century grander houses and castles were sophisticated affairs: expensively reinforced, often featuring murals and glass windows, these buildings were sometimes designed as a set of apartments to allow greater privacy, especially in cities. Many peasants continue to live in substantial, timber-framed long-houses in the cities; rural commoners in small homes of plaster and thatch. Category:Countries